


Helping a Friend

by Bluewolf458



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Gen, Sentinel Thursday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-26
Updated: 2016-08-26
Packaged: 2018-08-11 04:05:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7875502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluewolf458/pseuds/Bluewolf458
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Blair is helping a fellow TA</p>
            </blockquote>





	Helping a Friend

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Sentinel Thursday prompt 'convert'

Helping a Friend

By  Bluewolf

Jim sighed quietly as he watched his partner, wondering, not for the first time, if Blair even knew how to relax. Whatever he was doing, he seemed unable to do it without expending energy. Ever. Even when he slept, he slept restlessly, almost as if he were trying to pace in his sleep.

Currently he was reading, occasionally turning his attention from the book to scribble something in the notebook lying on the table beside him.

Jim frowned slightly. At this point in the university year, there were no tests to give, and while Blair did revise the lectures he gave on a fairly regular basis, this had all the hallmarks of being something completely new.

He tried to see what the book was. Blair was holding it at an angle that made it difficult for Jim to read, but then he put it face down as he picked up his pencil, and Jim was able to see the title - 'Nature versus Nurture; A Study in Human Behavior'.

That was hardly anthropology; more like psychology, Jim thought. And yet... didn't the kid say once that he'd minored in psychology? But why was he studying this psychology book so intently now?

"Chief?"

Silence for a moment, then, "Um?"

"Psychology?"

"Oh." Blair put down his notebook and pencil. "Well, you know I minored in psychology. It seemed a useful backup for anthropology."

Jim didn't stop to ask why, he just nodded. "Yes."

"Although we went in different directions, I had four or five good friends in that subject, though I've lost touch with most of them. Only one was taking it as a major, and he's still at Rainier, a TA in the subject but he's a bit like me - delaying and delaying presenting his dissertation. The difference between us is, I knew what I wanted to do my dissertation on, but couldn't find a full sentinel until I met you; he can't make up his mind what aspect of psychology he wants to concentrate on.

"Anyway, we got talking a couple of days ago, and somehow got onto the subject of criminals. Ricky had begun wondering if 'why some people become criminals' was a viable subject for a diss, so I said I'd look up one or two of my books, make a few notes to give him an idea of the content before he committed himself to buying them, as well as give him the details on a few of the cases we've dealt with - Lash comes to mind. Books like this one - " he indicated the table - "I got because it dealt with human behavior, and that is so much part of anthropology, even though it looks like the kind of book a psychology student would have; but Ricky had never come across it."

"The obvious reason for criminal behavior is greed," Jim said.

"Yes - but why does one sibling become a criminal while another, brought up in exactly the same way, is a responsible member of society? Why do some kids from disadvantaged backgrounds do everything they can to make a law-abiding success of their lives, while some from backgrounds that would be called positively advantaged convert from the law-abiding ethos they were taught to becoming criminals? I think Ricky could well have a good subject there for his diss, and that this book could be a good starting point for him."

"But won't he have to do his own research?"

"Yes, but the book can give him pointers. In any case, some of the research any student does comes from work published by earlier researchers - 'X has done considerable work on this theme, and...' or 'As Y says in his paper/book (title, chapter 3)...' then you go on and make your point. As long as you quote your sources and put your findings into your own words it's not plagiarism. Well, not unless you've just rewritten a book by an earlier writer. I based my Masters thesis on the people I found with heightened taste and sense of smell, with references to tribal legends about full sentinels, some of which I got from Burton. Without a sentinel to observe, though, anything I did beyond that would just have been rewriting Burton."

"You'll need to watch what names you give your friend, though. Lash mightn't matter too much because he's dead and his father had written him off - but ones like Frank Rachins?"

"I'd need to give Ricky the real names - he knows to change them, though whatever you change them to is still a real name unless you use something like 'Abac Deffy'. With the real names he can check back newspaper reports - that makes sure his details are all on public record.

"Of course, he might change his mind about his subject... and if he does, I might just try to do a paper on the theme."

Blair reached for his notebook and pencil, and began scribbling again.


End file.
